Fabric Store a Misnomer

I went to Wichita tonight to go to a fabric store. I did this because, not surprisingly, I wanted to buy some fabric for a skirt. And there is no fabric store in Hutchinson anymore. There’s not one in Wichita either, in the sense of there being a store where you would go to purchase cloth off of bolts.

Fabric stores no longer sell fabric. As best I can tell they mostly sell scrapbooking supplies, which I have begun to think of as a scourge because they keep taking up shelf space where things I want to buy used to be. Everyone from Wal-mart to unique boutiques have the de rigeur scrapbooking section. Okay, I like the funky scissors. I have them all. I’m over it. Surely practically everyone on the planet who wants them has the funky scissors now. Please, stop. I feel like I’m drowning in a sea of paisley printed origami in waiting.

As I wandered the aisles of the fabric stores – past the garden knick knacks, the plain wooden birdhouses begging for craft paint, and other assorted goods that had nothing to do with fabric, I was struck by the similarities of fabric stores to book stores.

Why, you may ask? Because, book stores no longer sell books. Have you noticed that? They sell DVDs, coffee and keychains.

I don’t buy DVDs and I don’t buy scrapbooking supplies, but I think it’s just wonderful for other people to do so. However, could you clue me in before I drive an hour? If you called it a “scrapbooking store” or a “DVD store” then I’d know it wasn’t of interest to me. But when you call it a fabric store or a book store I expect you to vend those products.